The fifth episode of Ahsoka was a major step-up in terms of quality because Dave Filoni chose to take a break from the plot about the return of Thrawn and the quest to find Ezra Bridger and focused on the titular character. Even though one can chalk it up to mere fanservice and unsubtle imagery, it was undoubtedly the only episode in the miniseries about Ahsoka Tano that actually showed us what she is going through. She is grappling with the notion of being Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader’s student. She is wondering if she is ever going to be a good teacher to Sabine Wren. And she is reckoning with her violent past as a Jedi who doubled as a warmongering soldier while dealing with the rise of a new evil power in the present day. Guess what happened this week? In a miniseries about Ahsoka Tano, she appears for around 2 minutes and then doesn’t show up again throughout the 46-minute-long episode. That’s more baffling than anything that happens in the oh-so-important plot.

Spoiler Alert

What Is Baylan Skoll Rambling About?

As mentioned before, we briefly see Ahsoka and Huyang traveling in the mouth of a Purrgil, and then the focus shifts to Sabine, who is being held captive in a prison cell in the Eye of Sion. Baylan Skoll pays Sabine a visit, and Sabine naively wonders why Skoll hasn’t held up his end of the deal and is treating her like a prisoner. By the way, I don’t exactly understand what the point of this deal is. Skoll and the rest of the villains want Thrawn. They probably want Ezra. They vaguely know that if they find Thrawn, they’ll find Ezra. So, why do they need Sabine? Why isn’t she dead? Just because they can use her to track down Ezra? They can’t do it themselves? This is a classic case of plot armor. I’m very sure that this is supposed to echo the time when Princess Leia was in Darth Vader’s captivity. But she was more than a hostage. She was Vader’s daughter. Her death was impossible. What’s the reason in Ahsoka to keep Sabine alive other than “the plot needs Sabine to be alive”? 

Anyway, the Eye of Sion arrives at a planet called Peridea, which is apparently the place where Purrgils come to die. Why? I don’t know. By the way, have I said how much I hate Diana Lee Inosanto’s permanent smirk to make it seem like she knows what she’s doing? I don’t know if that’s intentional or not, but it does irk me a lot! The villains, along with Sabine, go to yet another runes-based temple in Peridea, where they meet the three Nightsisters of Dathomir. They talk about how Thrawn is coming, not in the way that you think he is. They imprison Sabine because she’s a Jedi. And then everyone just waits around, thereby allowing Baylan Skoll to talk about the cyclical nature of the war between the dark and the light sides. Like most of us, Shin Hati can’t make head or tail of what Skoll is talking about. So, she gets straight to the point and asks what Baylan actually wants, and he says that he wants to get to the beginning. What does that mean? Does he want to time travel to the beginning of time itself, before the concepts of the Jedi and the Sith existed? Elsbeth does mention something about the days when time was counted. So, is that the villains’ master plan? I do not know.

Sabine Goes Out to Find Ezra Bridger

A special kind of Star Destroyer arrives at the temple. It has these golden markings and black patterns all over it. The stormtroopers also look very different, especially its leader, Enoch, who has a golden face mask instead of the regular stormtrooper face mask. Then Thrawn shows up, and this is supposed to be his grand return to the screen, but it’s not dynamic or interesting enough to evoke any kind of emotion. I am sure fans of the character will be hooting and cheering. But why should they be treated in such a nonchalant fashion? Why do the showrunners think that merely presenting a character is enough? A little slow motion, a little tease with the camerawork, or something that’s not a static shot of a character walking through the frame can be done. However, I am guessing that that’s a lot of work, and the showrunners know that they can get the reaction they want without sweating themselves. Hence, here we are, with a poorly lit, bland-looking shot of Thrawn. The villains talk about a cargo transfer. What is this cargo? I have no clue. Possibly, it’s some kind of weaponry to upend the New Republic. However, it’s clear that this cargo is either in large numbers or massive in size because it’ll take three days to get it transferred to wherever it needs to be transferred.

Thrawn learns about Sabine’s “capture,” and they have the most mind-numbingly boring conversation about finding Ezra Bridger. At the cost of sounding repetitive, I don’t understand why Sabine is not dead or stranded yet. Thrawn and Baylan apparently want Sabine to find Ezra so that they can kill her and Ezra. But then they say that the starship is the only way out of the place, and Thrawn even states that he doesn’t care if Ezra and Sabine are stranded there or dead. Then why are they wasting so much resources on sending Sabine out there, following her, and then killing her and Ezra if Sabine manages to find him? Why not just leave her there? Or, hear me out: given how Ezra has been stranded there all this while, and he doesn’t have a chance to get out of there, why bring Sabine all the way there and give him that chance? If they killed Sabine, Ezra would’ve continued to be stranded, right? The heroes literally had no chance of rescuing Ezra. So, why are they handing him to them on a platter? I don’t know. This show has some of the most frustrating writing I’ve ever encountered, and I have watched The Book of Boba Fett.

What Do Thrawn And Ezra Bridger Want?

Sabine is attacked by bandits, but she is helped by a native species called the Noti. Meanwhile, Shin Hati and Baylan Skoll find the bandits that Sabine has killed, and they go on a tangent about something stirring in Peridea that is calling to Baylan. I just want to remind you that this is the sixth episode of Ahsoka. There are two more episodes left, and the showrunners are mystery-boxing now? They have just reintroduced Thrawn. Thanks to Noti, we see Ezra Bridger, too, who is excited to go back home. And there are just two episodes left. I mean, it’s irksome that in the span of one episode, the show manages to bring back two characters in the most unimpressive ways imaginable. I don’t know about you, but I think a showrunner or a filmmaker needs to be a fan of a character, a franchise, or just deeply invested in the story they are telling to be in the director’s chair in the first place. If they only want to go through the motions and cash the check, then they shouldn’t be there. Everything about Ahsoka feels like that, though. Nobody is really interested in creating memorable moments, especially around some of its big reveals. It is so matter-of-fact that it makes you wonder why the show beats around the bush for five whole episodes when they could’ve done these paltry reveals in the first episode itself. That would’ve given them more time to flesh out the conflict between the heroes and the villains. Well, it is what it is. What can we really do about it?

At the end of Ahsoka Episode 6, the villains sense the presence of the titular character. Yes, this show is about Ahsoka Tano, and as mentioned before, she is missing for an entire episode. The showrunners could’ve easily divided the time between whatever happens in Peridea and the conversations between Ahsoka and Huyang. Why? Because it’s Ahsoka’s show! If the showrunners wanted to give us the impression that Ahsoka was actually dead, her absence would’ve made sense. But that was cleared up pretty soon. Then why was she absent from the entirety of episode 6? My best guess is bad writing. Anyway, we hear Thrawn ask the Nighsisters to perform some kind of dark magick, and the Nighsisters talk about the thread of destiny.

The music rises, and the episode, thankfully, comes to an end. This so-called magick (and yes, that’s the correct spelling) is an aspect of the Force that can be accessed by these Nighsisters to deceive and manipulate their enemies. There was some mention of it during The Clone Wars and Rebels. Ezra, Sabine, Darth Maul, and Kanan Jarrus had to deal with this sorcery. So, I’m guessing it’s time for Round 2. There’s some mention of a “thread of destiny.” I don’t know what that means. All I could find is a Swedish Star Wars fan film called Threads of Destiny. I don’t expect that to become canon. Maybe it’s as literal as it sounds, and the Nighsisters and Thrawn are going to alter the fabric of space and time with this destiny-altering device. If you have any theories regarding the magick, the thread of destiny, and how this is turning out to be a fifth season of Rebels instead of a show on Ahsoka Tano, feel free to share your thoughts with us.